Press Releases

Fitch: New Nuclear Plant May Spur Few More Feb 10, 2012 03:35PM

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Fitch Ratings believes that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) vote on February 9 approving the combined construction and operating license (COL) for Plant Vogtle Units 3 and 4 is a significant milestone in the development of new nuclear capacity in the US but has limited impact on credit. The new reactors are being developed by Southern Company subsidiary, Georgia Power Company (GPC) along with its partners the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG), Oglethorpe Power Corporation (OPC), and the city of Dalton, GA. More than 30 years have passed since the last COL was granted in the U.S.

For GPC, MEAG, and OPC, the project is a significant, long-term capital investment in baseload capacity. The two public power utilities have already prefunded, through debt issuance, a substantial portion of their share of the construction costs. GPC will rely on a combination of Department of Energy loan guarantees and traditional utility funding sources. The utility benefits from constructive rate treatment of project costs including recovery of construction work in progress on financing costs.

Passage of the COL was helped by the use of the Westinghouse AP 1000 design, which provides state of the art safety features. We continue to expect the approval of the COL for the VC Summer Units 2 and 3, in part because they also utilize this design. The new Summer units are being developed by South Carolina Electric & Gas Company and South Carolina Public Service Authority (Santee Cooper).

We believe that new COL applications beyond those in process are unlikely in the near term. Despite significant enthusiasm for nuclear power in recent years as an alternative to fossil generation, diminished load growth in the slow economy and historically low natural gas and wholesale electric prices have dampened interest. Combined with lower prospects for carbon emission regulations and evolving safety standards following the events at Fukushima, the industry's focus has shifted to maintenance of the nation's existing nuclear fleet.

Details of the approval are not yet available. Fitch will review them as soon as they are made available to us to evaluate the conditions included in the COL and any impact they may have on the cost or timing of completion.

Additional information is available on www.fitchratings.com

The above article originally appeared as a post on the Fitch Wire credit market commentary page. The original article can be accessed at www.fitchratings.com. All opinions expressed are those of Fitch Ratings.

ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTP://FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEBSITE 'WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM'. PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCH'S CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE 'CODE OF CONDUCT' SECTION OF THIS SITE.

Fitch Ratings, New YorkRob Rowan, +1-212-908-9159Senior DirectorFitch WireFitch Ratings1 State StreetNew York, NYorBhala Mehendale, +1-212-908-0520DirectorU.S. Public PowerOne State StreetNew York, NYorMedia Relations:Sandro Scenga, +1-212-908-0278sandro.scenga@fitchratings.com

Source: Fitch Ratings

SEO Services Alert: Internet Marketing Blueprint Unveiled at 2012 AAJ Winter Convention Feb 10, 2012 03:34PM

Indesign, LLC Celebrates 15 Years of Engineering Excellence Feb 10, 2012 03:33PM

INDIANAPOLIS, IN -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 02/10/12 -- Indesign, LLC, an Indianapolis-based engineering design firm, celebrated its 15th year in business today. Indesign has been developing high-tech products and systems for its clients in the electronics industry since 1997.

After the formation of the company in November 1996, Indesign officially opened its doors to serve the electronics product industry on February 10, 1997. The company was originally established by a group of former AT&T/Bell Labs engineers who were experienced in the design of communication products.

During the past 15 years Indesign has worked for more than 200 clients ranging from start-up companies to Fortune 100 companies. These companies represented a cross section of consumer, commercial, military, medical, and industrial products and applications. Indesign, LLC has consistently brought quality design and development engineering services to its long list of clients.

Indesign is dedicated to its continued success by offering state of the art design and development to their clients through innovative concepts and design of comprehensive engineering design services for embedded electronic products and systems. These services include electrical circuit design, RF, software/firmware design, mechanical design, testing/validation services, project management and a host of other services dedicated to the development of electronic products and solutions.

To learn more about the history and accomplishments of Indesign, visit their website at www.indesign-llc.com.

About Indesign, LLC Indesign is an engineering design services firm with a proven track record of helping companies develop new electronic devices. Utilizing an ISO certified, well-defined development process enables Indesign engineers to design quality products on-time and within budget. Engineering disciplines consist of electrical/circuit design, software/firmware design, mechanical design, human factors design, and testing/validation with a strong emphasis on products utilizing embedded microprocessors and DSPs.

Media Contact:
Resa Robertson
Email Contact
(317) 377-6221

Source: Indesign

Fitch Rates VRDP Shares Issued by Nuveen Premium Income Municipal Fund 4, Inc. 'AAA/F1+' Feb 10, 2012 03:34PM

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Fitch Ratings assigns 'AAA' long-term ratings and 'F1+' short-term ratings to variable rate demand preferred shares (VRDP shares) issued by Nuveen Premium Income Municipal Fund 4, Inc. (NPT), a municipal closed-end fund managed by Nuveen Fund Advisors, Inc. (NFA) and subadvised by Nuveen Asset Management, LLC (NAM):

--$262,200,000 of VRDP shares, series 1, mandatory redemption date of March 1, 2040, with a liquidation preference of $100,000 per share.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

The 'F1+' short-term rating primarily reflects:

--The credit strength of JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (rated 'AA-/F1+' by Fitch) as liquidity provider.

--The terms and conditions of the VRDP shares purchase agreement (purchase agreement).

The 'AAA' long-term rating primarily reflects:

--Sufficient asset coverage provided to the VRDP shares as calculated per the fund's over-collateralization (OC) tests.

--The structural protections afforded by mandatory de-leveraging provisions in the event of asset coverage declines.

--The legal and regulatory parameters that govern the fund's operations.

--Both the short- and long-term ratings also reflect the capabilities of NFA as investment advisor and NAM as subadvisor.

TENDER AND REMARKETING

The VRDP shares benefit from a demand feature giving investors the right to tender the securities with a seven-day notice for remarketing. The VRDP shares are also subject to a mandatory tender for remarketing upon the occurrence of certain events, such as non-payment of dividends by the fund, among others. VRDP shares that are unsuccessfully remarketed are purchased by the liquidity provider, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., pursuant to an additional demand feature.

The VRDP shares have a 30-year mandatory redemption date and pay an adjustable dividend rate set weekly by the remarketing agent, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC (or any subsequent replacement). Should a remarketing be unsuccessful, the dividend rate will reset to a maximum rate as defined in the governing documents.

PURCHASE OBLIGATION

The VRDP shares are supported by a purchase agreement to ensure full and timely repayment of the liquidation preference amount plus any accumulated and unpaid dividends to holders upon occurrence of certain events. The agreement requires the liquidity provider to purchase all VRDP shares tendered for sale that were not successfully remarketed. The liquidity provider must also purchase all outstanding VRDP shares if the fund has not obtained an alternate purchase agreement prior to the termination of the purchase agreement being replaced or following the downgrade of the liquidity provider's rating below 'F2' (or equivalent).

The purchase of VRDP shares pursuant to the purchase agreement is unconditional and irrevocable, and as such the short-term ratings assigned to the VRDP shares are directly linked to the short-term creditworthiness of the associated liquidity provider.

The liquidity provider's obligation under the purchase agreement is currently scheduled to terminate on March 16, 2012. Fitch expects the purchase agreement to be subsequently extended, with terms that are substantially similar to the current purchase agreement.

LEVERAGE

As of Jan. 31, 2012, the fund had managed assets of $929.1 million including leverage of $344.6 million. Leverage consisted of $262.2 million of VRDP shares and $82.4 million of floating rate certificates of tender option bonds.

ASSET COVERAGE

The fund's asset coverage ratio for the VRDP shares, as calculated in accordance with the Investment Company Act of 1940, was approximately 330%. This is in excess of the minimum asset coverage threshold of 225% currently set by the terms of the fee agreement between the fund and the liquidity provider (Minimum VRDP Asset Coverage Test).

The fund has also covenanted with the liquidity provider to maintain an Effective Leverage Ratio for both VRDP shares and floating-rate certificates of tender option bonds below 45% (or 46% if the increase in the ratio is due exclusively to asset market value volatility). The Effective Leverage Ratio is currently approximately 37%.

In the event of asset coverage declines, the fund's governing documents will require the fund to reduce leverage in order to restore compliance with the OC test(s) breaching the required

threshold(s).

STRESS TESTS

Fitch performed various stress tests on the fund to assess the strength of the structural protections available to the VRDP shares compared to the rating stresses outlined in Fitch's closed-end fund rating criteria. These tests included determining various 'worst case' scenarios where the fund's leverage and portfolio composition migrated to the outer limits of its operating and investment guidelines.

Only under remote circumstances, such as increasing the fund's issuer concentration while simultaneously migrating the portfolio to 80% 'BBB', 10+ years to maturity bonds and 20% high yield bonds, did the asset coverage available to the VRDP Shares fall below the 'AAA' threshold, and instead passed at an 'AA' rating level.

Given the highly unlikely nature of the stress scenarios, and the minimal rating impact, Fitch views the fund's permitted investments, municipal issuer diversification framework and mandatory deleveraging mechanisms as consistent with an 'AAA' rating.

THE FUND

The fund is a closed-end management investment company regulated by the Investment Company Act of 1940. The fund seeks to provide current income exempt from regular federal income tax and to enhance portfolio value. The fund currently invests primarily in investment grade quality municipal bonds.

NFA, a subsidiary of Nuveen Investments, is the fund's investment advisor, responsible for the fund's overall investment strategy and its implementation. NAM is a subsidiary of NFA and oversees the day-to-day operations of the fund. Nuveen Investments and its affiliates had approximately $207 billion of assets under management as of Oct. 31, 2011.

RATINGS SENSITIVITY

The ratings assigned to the VRDP shares may be sensitive to material changes in the leverage composition, portfolio credit quality or market risk of the fund, as described above. A material adverse deviation from Fitch guidelines for any key rating driver could cause ratings to be lowered by Fitch.

Certain terms of the Minimum VRDP Shares Asset Coverage Test and Effective Leverage Ratio are set in the liquidity and fee agreements, which are renewed on a periodic basis. Changes to these terms that weaken the tests may have negative rating implications.

The short-term ratings assigned to the VRDP shares may also be sensitive to changes in the financial condition of the liquidity provider. A downgrade of the liquidity provider to 'F2' would result in a downgrade of the short-term ratings of the VRDP shares to 'F2,' absent other mitigants. A downgrade below 'F2', on the other hand, would not necessarily result in a downgrade of the short-term rating of the VRDPs, given the acceleration features in the transaction that would result in a mandatory tender of the VRDPs for purchase by the liquidity provider.

The fund has the ability to assume economic leverage through derivative transactions which may not be captured by the fund's Minimum VRDP Asset Coverage Test or Effective Leverage Ratio. The fund does not currently engage in derivative activities and does not envision engaging in material amounts of such activity in the future. In fact, such activity is limited by the fund's investment guidelines and could run counter to the fund's investment objective of achieving tax-exempt income. Material derivative exposures in the future could have potential negative rating implications if it adversely affects asset coverage available to rated VRDP shares.

For additional information about Fitch rating guidelines applicable to debt and preferred stock issued by closed-end funds, please review the criteria referenced below, which can be found on Fitch's web site at 'www.fitchratings.com'.

Additional information is available at 'www.fitchratings.com'. The ratings above were solicited by, or on behalf of, the issuer, and therefore, Fitch has been compensated for the provision of the ratings.

The sources of information used to assess this rating were the public domain and Nuveen Fund Advisors.

To receive Fitch's forthcoming research on closed-end funds please go to:

http://forms.fitchratings.com/forms/FAMCEFOptinform

Applicable Criteria and Related Research:

--'Rating Closed-End Fund Debt and Preferred Stock' (Aug. 16, 2011);

--'Global Rating Criteria for Asset-Backed Commercial Paper' (Nov. 10, 2011);

--'2012 Outlook: Closed-End Fund Leverage' (Dec. 19, 2011);

--'Closed-End Funds: Derivatives Under Review' (Nov. 16, 2011);

--'Primer: CEF Variable-Rate Demand Preferred Shares' (Oct. 27, 2011).

Applicable Criteria and Related Research:

Global Rating Criteria for Asset-Backed Commercial Paper

http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=655450

Rating Closed-End Fund Debt and Preferred Stock

http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=648840

Primer: CEF Variable-Rate Demand Preferred Shares (Closed-End Fund VRDPs Target Short-Term, Money Market Investors)

http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=654295

Closed-End Funds: Derivatives Under Review (Increased Use and Limited Transparency Are Key Considerations)

http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=656591

2012 Outlook: Closed-End Fund Leverage

http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=660709

ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTP://FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEBSITE 'WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM'. PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCH'S CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE 'CODE OF CONDUCT' SECTION OF THIS SITE.

Fitch RatingsPrimary AnalystGreg Fayvilevich, +1-212-908-9151Associate DirectorFitch, Inc.One State Street PlazaNew York, NY 10004orSecondary AnalystRuss Thomas, +1-312-368-3189DirectororCommittee ChairpersonViktoria Baklanova, CFA, +1-212-908-9162Senior DirectororMedia RelationsBrian Bertsch, New York, +1-212-908-0549brian.bertsch@fitchratings.com

Source: Fitch Ratings

Fitch Takes Multiple Rating Actions on Ford Credit Auto Owner Trust 2010-A Feb 10, 2012 03:33PM

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Fitch Ratings affirms three and upgrades two classes of the Ford Credit Auto Owner Trust 2010-A as follows:

--Class A-3 notes affirmed at 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable;

--Class A-4 notes affirmed at 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable;

--Class B notes affirmed at 'AAAsf'; Outlook Stable;

--Class C notes upgraded to 'AAAsf' from 'AAsf'; Outlook Stable;

--Class D notes upgraded to 'AAsf' from 'Asf'; Outlook Stable.

The rating upgrades are a result of strong loss coverage due to increasing credit enhancement available to the notes. Cumulative net losses have been well below Fitch's initial expectations at 0.49% through January 2012. The collateral pools continue to perform within Fitch's expectations. In addition, under the credit enhancement structure, the securities are able to withstand stress scenarios consistent with the updated ratings and make full payments to investors in accordance with the terms of the documents.

The ratings reflect the quality of Ford Motor Credit Company's retail auto loan originations, the strength of its servicing capabilities, and the sound financial and legal structure of the transaction.

Additional information is available at 'www.fitchratings.com'. The ratings above were solicited by, or on behalf of, the issuer, and therefore, Fitch has been compensated for the provision of the ratings.

Applicable Criteria and Related research:

--'U.S. Auto Loan ABS Rating Criteria' (April 20, 2011);

--'Global Structured Finance Rating Criteria' (Aug. 4, 2011)

Applicable Criteria and Related Research:

U.S. Auto Loan ABS Rating Criteria

http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=614367

Global Structured Finance Rating Criteria

http://www.fitchratings.com/creditdesk/reports/report_frame.cfm?rpt_id=646569

ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTP://FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRATINGS. IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE AGENCY'S PUBLIC WEBSITE 'WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM'. PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCH'S CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE 'CODE OF CONDUCT' SECTION OF THIS SITE.

Fitch RatingsPrimary AnalystJohn AlbericiAnalyst+1-212-908-0370Fitch, Inc.One State Street PlazaNew York, NY 10004orSecondary AnalystHylton HeardSenior Director+1-212-908-0214orChairpersonDu TrieuSenior Director+1-312-368-2091orMedia RelationsSandro Scenga+1-212-908-0278sandro.scenga@fitchratings.com

Source: Fitch Ratings